If you're looking for someone or something to blame for the spike in food prices, some senators say look no further than ethanol.

A group of 23 republican senators, including Georgia's Johnny Isakson and South Carolina's Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint, say the rush to produce more ethanol is an example of what happens when politicians hastily "do something rather than take the time to do what's right."

They say federal mandates to burn food for fuel have "disrupted the entire agriculture market", making it expensive to feed animals and causing more farmers to abandon other crops to grow corn.

"Food prices were declining for 30 years, but since Congress began meddling with ethanol in 2005, the price of milk,eggs, bread, meat and vegetables has been rising fast," Senator Jim DeMint said.

The senators say mandates put in place in 2005 to product more ethanol should be lifted and they've written a letter to Stephen Johnson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, asking him to do so and do it quickly.  "Congress gave them authority that if they saw that the mandate was harmful to the American  people that we could stop it," says Senator Demint.  "And that's clearly what the EPA needs to do until we get a handle on the cost of food."

DeMint says prior to the mandate, ethanol was growing as an additive to gasoline.  "If we remove the mandate we'll allow the market to work better without affecting food prices," says DeMint. 

We found 76 year old John Carter buying groceries at a Savannah supermarket and asked him about food prices. "Well, average people, especially senior citizens on a limited income, are just in turmoil," he told me.

Johnson does think that taking corn out of the food chain and using it for fuel has probably affected the prices he pays in the grocery aisle.  "Because corn is staple good that benefits so many people and they're taking it away from the market and putting it someplace else so naturally it will cause a shortage," he says.

Johnson says if ethanol is not working that lawmakers need to take better look at other alternative fuels.  "They were talking about sledge in the swamps and they vetoed all of that," he says.  "Several projects were on the table, in the last couple of years and they just ignored them."

We found Huey Harrison and Brian Foreman coming out of the same grocery store.   It's too high that's all I can say, gas it just too high," Harrison told me.  Foreman says he's noticed higher food prices but that everyone has to buy food and gas.  As far as politicians taking some action, he told us " I don't see anything happening to be honest with you. I don't see prices going down."

While some estimates say increased production of ethanol is pushing up food prices by as much 30 percent, Deborah Brinkman isn't so sure. "I disagree with that because I don't think ethanol has been around long enough to really affect crop production." she says.  

We found Brinkman buying gas on Savannah's south side.  She says she's less inclined to blame ethanol and more inclined to blame oil companies and their record profits which she says means a higher cost to grow and transport food.

A major farm group is disputing the idea that increased production of ethanol has caused a spike in food prices. But the group of senators says the ethanol mandates have changed things and should be lifted.  "This is clearly something the federal government needs to do quickly to resolve this crisis," DeMint told us.